Suzuki S40 650cc Single Cylinder

The Suzuki S40 is the latest incarnation of the LS650 made since 1986.  It is a beginner and in town motorcycle that is 352lbs, only 50lbs heavier than the MSF course bikes. You can find them used on Craigslist at reasonable prices.  Sellers are a mix of those moving and those who realized that riding a motorcycle wasn't for them.  My bike is pictured below with the OEM windsheld and Shad top case. This is an old picture.


I've mad a couple modifications to my S40

Headlight Upgrade

I'm always looking to make myslef more visible so did a simple headlight upgrade.  A stock 5 1/4" headlight is standard, shown on the right.  The mounting holes and rake of the S40 are the same as the larger Suzuki Marauder so they are a direct swap. I purchased mine on EBay from Pinwall Cycles.  It came off of a bike they were parting ouit and was in excellent condition.  Make sure that you get the base and the bell. You can see the difference between the size of the standard S40 and Marauder headlights. The swap can be made with no cutting or hacking on the electrical system.

Fuel Petcock

The stock fuel petcock is vacuum powered so you never have to turn it on or off and you don't get gas leakage when the bike is resting on it's side.   The vacuum system does come with it's own issues. It can get leakage over time through the diaphragm and you can get inconsistent behavior as the unit gets older.  The OEM unit has two hoses, fuel and vacuum, and sticks out under the tank so it can make removing the tank a bit of a pain.  The tank has to come off for spark plug, valve and other standard maintenance. 

The Yamaha Raptor manual petcock is a direct replacement that bolts right up to the tank.  I thought I was having a problem with my OEM unit so I swapped them. That wasn't my issue but now I like how the Raptor has made tank removal easier so I haven't put the vacuum based petcock back on.

Windshield

I originally started with the OEM windshield.  It is a nice little fly screen but I ride all year long so I replaced it with an aftermarket.  Here is a picture of the  OEM LS650 shield with the Marauder headlight. 

I went with a Slipstreamer SS-32 faring with covers over the handgrips. It is great in the rain and in the winter but too hot for the summer.  I found an incomplete SS-30 on EBay that uses the same mounts as the SS-32. So now I just swap between the two farings in the fall and spring.  I cut a couple inches off the top and about an inch off of each side.  This change provides a lot more airflow in the summer but now I get wet on the arms and shoulders when it rains.  You can see here the cut down SS-30 with the larger Marauder headlight.

Garage Door Opener
 We have an electric garage door opener. I didn't have a place to keep the transmitter on my coat and got tired of running into the house to open the door so I mounted the transmitter in the headlight globe of my bike.  My unit uses a type N 12V battery.  I pulled the unit out of it's case and soldered the button contacts shut so that the unit transmits whenever it has power. I then attached the battery leads to the high-beam circuit in the headlight.  This means the transmitter gets power whenever I flash the high beams.  Now I can just roll up to the garage and flash the high beams and the door opens.








Here is a picture of some posi-taps used to attach to the high beam. I tapped in where the headlight socket connects to the main wiring harness. This means I can just replace that component if the taps ever cause trouble.  (I don't like tapping anything into the main wiring harness)

Luggage Rack / Ammo Can

The LS650/S40 is a small cruiser with limited storage options.  I initially added the sissybar and backrest so I could put on the luggage rack.  That let me mount a 50cal ammo can on the shelf. Ammo cans cost about $8 and are waterproof.

I painted the back yellow and added red reflective tape from the auto parts store. It's not as bright as the Scorpion 700 helmet but it's still pretty good.

You can just see a row of waterproof LEDs that I added between the fender and the license plate light.  The come on whenever the brake light comes and are noticeable, especially at night. I later replaced the Ammo Can with a Shad case with an integrated AdMoreLighting LED kit. Now I have lots of brake lights.

Luggage Rack / Shad Hard Case

The ammo can was great but I wanted a place to put my helmet and gloves when I run errands. Shad makes a nice 37 liter top case that comes with a mounting plate.  I also added AdMoreLighting LED strips inside the reflectors.

I cut the sissy bar off with a Harbor Freight grinder and mounted the mounting plate on the luggage rack and over the cut off sissy bar.  It works great except for the fact that the OEM luggage rack really can't handle the weight out on the end so the luggage racks only last about 9 months.  They get stress fractures along the corners and the welds will start to come loose.  I've been looking for a new rack setup.

(8/2012) In the mean time, I took  the Brute Force and Ignorance (BFI) approach with the rack after busting a second one. I drilled holes through the side of the rack and through the sissybar. Then I ran the original screws and nuts, that came with the rack, through the rack and sissy bar mounts.  This is a very secure mount.  We'll have to see if there is enough vibration to cause metal fatigue in the rack with this new configuration.

Peg Replacement

I like riding with pegs so I haven't done a floorboard swap or any of that.  The bike fell over the other day and folded up one of the pegs.  It snapped in half when I straightened it out.  The peg is a hollow bar with a solid steel rod at one end where it mounts to the bike.  You can fix a peg with just a new bar/rod.  I replaced my rubber at the same time so the total was about $45 for parts.  It would have only been $25 or so if I had reused the rubber.

Saddle Bags

I found a small set of saddlebags on closeout for $60.  There really isn't room under the seat for the yoke so I'm planning on doing something different. The saddlebag is mounted separate from it's other half.  The yoke has been folded over the side rail and then back down between the rail and the fender.  The yoke is pinched between the rail and fender once the rails are tightened back down.. I'm hoping the rail edges don't cut the yoke.

Air Horn

I replaced the OEM horn with a "Bad Boy" air horn.  It will be bumped by the steering column when turned all the way to the left if you don't do that.The unit has to be mounted at about a 45 degree angle if you want to avoid this problem and put the new horn in the original horn location.

Reworked Seat 

I found this custom Longo Motorcycle seat on Craigslist.  The seat has been reworked so that it is flat from front to back adding 3"" of overall height. 

This lets you stretch out and changes the wrist and arm angle.  It also lets you slide back and forth on the seat a little to get more comfortable.  I think I'd like it with only 1.5" of height but then I would lose the ability to move frontwards and backwards.

It makes it feel more like an old scrambler. I'm going to try it for a while to see how the handling is affected by the change in center of gravity

Parts and Pieces

Here are a couple places I've liked dealing with.

• Eastern Beaver: They make and sell all kinds of nifty electrical items for motorcycles. I purchased a wiring harness from them when I added my Wolo air horn.  It meant I didn't have to cut or tap any wires to add the higher power horn.
• Pinwall Cycles:  They sell used parts on EBay. I've had great luck their items being as described. My S40 has a replacement turn signal, a rear reflector and a Marauder headlight that all came from them.
• SuzukiSavage.com is the forum for all things Savage (LS650/S40) . It contains great service tutorials, pictures of customized bikes and a nice classifieds section.